Made over in the Signet Collection's signature style, this country-house hotel in a picturesque South Downs village has a relaxed ambience, chic, affordable bedrooms, a boutique spa, and imaginative brasserie fare with good plant-based options.

Do you remember an inn, Miranda? Hilaire Belloc certainly remembered this Georgian coaching inn, from which he described setting out in The Four Men.

Indulge in a Porn Star Martini in the sea-facing cocktail bar at this stuccoed, bow-fronted Georgian seafront hotel, for this is Brighton, after all – hip, tolerant and fun.

Just a couple of minutes' drive from Petworth, with views over farmland to the South Downs, this gastropub has smart contemporary bedrooms and some exciting menu choices.

Long a social hub for a thriving village between the South Downs and the coast, this family-run gastropub is highly regarded for its warm welcome, smart bedrooms and a menu that mixes pub classics with more imaginative dishes.

Overlooking the reed beds and salt marsh of Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve – a paradise for birdwatchers – this excellent restaurant with chic, individually styled rooms is praised for its cooking of local ingredients, especially fish and shellfish, and imaginative plant-based options.

Hostess Sarah Burgoyne, a Paris-trained cook, will serve a no-choice dinner by arrangement at her Georgian manor house B&B in gardens and grounds with a glamorous swimming pool, where breakfast brings new-laid eggs from the hens, and honey from the hives, and where guests are greeted with tea and cake.

At the heart of some of Britain's best wine-growing country, and centred on a Georgian mansion, this Piggy has accommodation spread across the main house, stable buildings and wagons, with shabby-chic interiors inspired by a fictitious housewife named Mary, menus supplied by coast and countryside, kitchen garden and orchard, and its very own vineyard.

East Coast America meets South Coast England at this single-storey, seaside-chic hotel with appealing room choices, fantastic locally sourced food, a spa cabin, beach yoga workshops, and a vast expanse of sands, washed by the English Channel, just over the spectacular dunes.

Bedrooms are no mere afterthought at this Edwardian mock-timbered gastropub, across the road from the shingle beach, with modern artworks, many thoughtful touches, good bathrooms, a bar and buzzy restaurant serving a short menu of pub classics and more innovative dishes.

Amid historic and glorious Grade I listed lakes and woodland gardens, this Italianate mansion wins acclaim for its serenely beautiful bedrooms, and for chef Jean Delport's cooking, served theatrically in Interlude restaurant, rating both a Michelin star and Michelin green star.